Are these birds, planes or satellites, or meteors?

  • Thread starter Thread starter lucas_
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Planes Satellites
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the identification of unidentified flying objects observed in a video, with participants speculating whether these objects are birds, planes, satellites, or meteors. The conversation includes various perspectives on the nature of the objects, their motion, and the context of the video.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the motion of the objects appears bird-like, particularly if they are birds flying between the camera and the moon.
  • Others argue that the objects could be satellites, especially in light of recent satellite launches, while questioning the speed and formation of the objects.
  • One participant notes that the objects do not exhibit characteristics typical of meteors, such as glowing upon entering the atmosphere.
  • Concerns are raised about the possibility of the objects being illusions or artifacts in the video, with some participants observing circular shapes around the objects.
  • There is a discussion about the altitude at which birds can fly and whether the observed motion is consistent with known flight patterns of birds or planes.
  • Some participants mention the possibility of helium balloons being released, suggesting alternative explanations for the observed phenomena.
  • Technical details regarding the speed of satellites and their expected visibility are discussed, with calculations provided for how long it would take for objects to cross the moon's disk.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the nature of the objects, with multiple competing views remaining regarding whether they are birds, satellites, or other phenomena. The discussion remains unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the assumptions underlying their claims, such as the distance of the objects and the resolution of the video. There are also references to the limitations of the video in providing clear evidence for any specific identification.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals curious about unidentified aerial phenomena, satellite behavior, and avian flight patterns, as well as those engaged in discussions about observational astronomy and video analysis.

  • #61
Thread is closed for Moderation...
 
Biology news on Phys.org
  • #62
Although this thread is now in "General Discussion" and the subject is inherently problematic, please try to remain as reasonable as possible and avoid speculations. The general difficulty with such topics is, that we rarely have sufficient information to claim anything sound.

Thread reopened.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: berkeman
  • #63
Off the top of my head, I would say the video was computer generated/augmented.
But the maths are fun:

The video was taken at ≈9:23 pm, Moscow time.
The moon was 7.4° above the horizon.
The moon's direction was 134°, which puts it about half way between due south and due east.
The ufo's velocity relative to the moon was 49.4 km/sec, at an angle of -28.1° from horizontal, to the right.
The moons relative velocity to itself was 25.5 km/sec, at an angle of +22.5°, to the right. (±10%, as mentioned earlier)
Added together, I get a velocity of 67.6 km/sec @ 4°, to the right. Nearly horizontal.

The wind velocities that day over Moscow were fairly consistent. A couple of altitudes can be eliminated for balloons, I think.

2019.08.28.pf.moscow.moon.ufos.winds.png
Although none of the lines intersect,

ufo.line.speeds.dont.intersect.png

I think if one takes into account that this graph is only valid when the observer's position is perpendicular to the moon, vs the 7° mentioned earlier, then there could be instances where balloons could have been involved.

ps. Off the bottom of my head, I would say the video was computer generated/augmented.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: DennisN
  • #64
lucas_ said:
Dear experts,

What are these things (dozens of them):

Is it not incredible that a person happened to zoom in on the Moon (and film it) at the particular moment when UFOs (i.e. unidentified flying objects) were spotted? What a remarkable coincidence! It is so remarkable that I think the movie is fake, i.e. edited.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Klystron and weirdoguy
  • #65
OmCheeto said:
But the maths are fun:
Nice analysis. :smile:
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Klystron
  • #66
DennisN said:
Nice analysis. :smile:
Thanks! Though, I've already found one error.
Added together, I get a velocity of 67.6 km/sec @ 4°, to the right. Nearly horizontal.
Added together, I now get a velocity of 68.5 km/sec @ -11°, to the right.​

But as they say, you get what you pay for.

The last thing to do was correct wind speeds for distance and angles.
It looks as though the wind speeds gave one valid solution for balloons. Roughly 4300 meters.

2019.08.29.pf.ufo.wind.solns.png


Might also be birds. All the birds on this list fly above that: wiki: bird flight altitudes
Though I don't know much about them, and couldn't tell you which of those fly over Moscow, at night, during full moons, in May.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: DennisN
  • #67

Similar threads

  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
774
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
5K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
4K
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
3K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K